Coward
by VectorCrocodileFangirl
Summary: "I've seriously hated you from the moment I met you.. You let one stupid wound dictate the way you lived your life!" There are certain kinds of weakness that Rodeaux just can't abide by. /How Chita and Rodeaux became partners; Rodeaux x Chita if you squint really hard. Manga only./
1. Chapter 1

A/N: one day they'll look up and shout, "stop writing shitty fanfiction about your obscure favourites and get back to writing about something people actually want to read" and i'll whisper, "no"

My take on how Chita and Rodeaux first met.

* * *

"Is that..?"

"Shush, dear, don't stare. Just keep walking.."

Chita heard things like that every day. Now they just went in one ear and out the other, although she did pull the scarf she'd wrapped around her head tighter and picked up her pace. The single block between her house and the market seemed impossibly long. All she wanted to do was keep her head down and her face hidden until she got home. It wasn't like she had to worry about bumping into anyone— everyone knew her, and everyone gave her a wide berth. 'What a shame', they would say, and then avoid her like her wound was contagious. It made her feel sick.

It took her a few moments to fumble for her front door key and slide it into the ill-fitting lock. She picked up her bag of groceries and shouldered her way inside, into the dark and musty flat. She rented the place from a landlord who lived in a large city hours away, and who she wired money to every month. She had never met the woman face to face, which suited her just fine. The flat itself was a the three-room bottom portion of a house, the top half of which had fallen into disrepair and wasn't currently in use. It was sparsely furnished and completely undecorated. She felt as though she fit in a place like that.

She shut the door behind her, ignoring the way the hinges creaked loudly. She used to oil them frequently, but since it just kept happening and she didn't have anyone she could ask to fix it, she had just learned to live with the creaking. It was just easier that way. She loaded her food into the lopsided pantry and the refrigerator that hummed in the middle of the night when she was trying to sleep, unpacking the groceries with almost robotic motions. She had to remind herself repeatedly that going out one day meant she wouldn't have to go out the next. Small reassurances like that kept her going.

_It would be easier, really,_ she thought as she loaded the milk into the fridge, _if I just never had to leave the house at all.._

* * *

Chita hated sending out her rent. First she had to walk all the way to the bank, then stand in the inevitable line, then arrange for the money to be wired. She couldn't do it digitally the way most people did— her bank didn't even have a website. She would have to talk with someone behind the counter, trying to avoid eye contact if only to avoid noticing the fact that they were inevitably trying to do the same, and there was always _some_ sort of problem that would get things tied up and make the people waiting in line behind her antsy and irritated. Sometimes it would be a lack of funds in her account, while other times her land lady would switch banks or branches and not tell her ahead of time, but invariably the entire charade would take far longer than she wanted.

That day the process had taken so long that she was left home walking in dusky darkness, the street lights just starting to flicker to life. As usual she had her thick scarf pulled around her head and was walking quickly, keeping her head down so as to avoid eye contact with the few people still on the street. A pair of young boys paused awkwardly in the middle of kicking a ball back and forth to watch as she passed, not even trying to pretend they weren't staring. The children of the village were more frank than their parents, although no less unkind.

The wind nearly rushed out of her when she collided with another body, more out of surprise than from the collision. She stumbled backwards but didn't fall, glancing up to see who she had run into but not lifting her head. She didn't recognize the young but intimidating-looking man.

"..sorry.." she murmured, holding her scarf closed with a white-knuckled grip as she moved to walk around the stranger. An arm shot out in front of her to block her path, and she gritted her teeth.

"Hey, where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked tauntingly, grinning down at her like a cat might grin at a mouse. She didn't react, simply tried to shoulder past his arm, but two more unfamiliar men stepped up behind him and blocked her way.

"..please let me pass," she said, her voice a little louder than before. The original man she had bumped into just continued to grin at her.

"What was that? Sorry, didn't quite catch it," he said with a snigger in his voice. His companions joined in like it was some sort of inside joke.

"I'll scream," she said firmly, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she held onto the head cover.

"Aw, no need to be like that," he said in a voice that sounded like honey and made her feel sick to her stomach. "We just wanted someone local to tell us what there is to do around this burg."

"This is just a small village. If you're looking for something to do, the nearest city is an hour away by highway," she replied curtly, glancing around to weigh her options. If she tried to run back the opposite way the men would likely be able to catch her, and there was a wrought iron fence to her right, but if she ducked to the left and into the street she might be able to cut across and attract enough attention to get help before they caught up to her.

"I'm sure we can amuse ourselves _somehow_," one of the other men added, leaning against the fence. Chita's legs tensed as she prepared to run, mentally trying to estimate how far she could get before they caught up to her. If she ran around the car and used it to slow them down..

"Hey, why aren't you listening to us?" The third man reached out and grabbed her scarf. She made a startled noise and took a step backwards, keeping a firm hold on it to avoid having it taken from her. She felt the fabric tear almost neatly in two before she heard it, but the sound still made her stomach churn. Her hand immediately shot up to her eye, but the same man that ripped her scarf caught her wrist. "And why aren't you showing us your face?"

She scowled, screwing up her face like a cornered animal. "Don't touch me," she snarled, trying to pull her wrist from his grip. "If it's money that you want, I don't have any."

The three men ignored her completely, the one holding her wrist scrutinizing her face closely. When she tried to lower her head and avoid eye contact, another one of the three reached in and grabbed her chin, tilting her face up.

"Oh man, nasty scar," the first of them commented, still grinning. "D'you think she's got an empty eye socket?"

She flinched when he reached out to touch it, jerking her head away with a startled yell. Her wrist was immediately twisted, cutting the noise off with a pained choke. She wanted to pull herself away, run and scream for help, but the strength just wouldn't come to her. What if one of them had a weapon? She blanched at the thought. Maybe if she—

"Three against one, huh? How boring."

The deep voice from above startled her, but not as much as it startled the men who had cornered her. Their heads snapped up almost in unison, while she lifted hers hesitantly, afraid of an imminent fourth attacker.

The figure standing on top of the lamp post wasn't human. She knew that much at first glance. He was human _enough_, but his strange physique, lined face, dead eyes, and the small wings that twitched every so often like they wanted to flap were all dead giveaways. He had a dark facial expression, one of mixed disinterest and disgust, like he'd just swatted an insect or stepped in dog shit.

"Wh-who the Hell are you?!" the grinning man demanded, no longer grinning. Those disinterested and disgusted eyes turned their full attention on him, and the man on the lamp post curled his lip.

"Only cowards team up against an unarmed opponent," he continued, as though he hadn't even heard the man's demands. "If you were strong, you wouldn't need three people to confront someone walking home alone in the dark, hunched over like an old woman. Or maybe you're so weak that you need two allies to confront a girl who won't even swing a fist at you..?"

All three of the men made strangled choking noises. The one gripping her wrist dropped it, and though her immediate instinct was to run away, she felt like her legs were weighed down by cement blocks. Her shoulders were shaking, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"Hey, if you're so tough, why not come down from there and prove it?!" one of them demanded, shaking a fist at the lamp post percher. He gave them that same disgusted glare, like he was staring at an insect who was crawling on his food. "Tch, forget this. Let's just get out of here."

Without so much as a backwards glance at Chita, the three men lumbered away down the sidewalk, hanging their shoulders. As soon as they had passed under the lamp post, the fourth man's expression changed from disinterest and disgust to an amused grin filled with teeth like a shark. He dropped down from his perch and rolled his neck.

"Good," he said with a chuckle in his voice. "Striking weak-willed cowards in the back is a hobby of mine."

Before any of the men could react, he swung his foot out in a punishing kick that landed on the back of the grinning man's head. He made a choked gurgling noise as his friends whirled on the newcomer, whose smirk had widened. Screaming unintelligible curses, one tried to throw a punch at the winged man, only to have his fist connect with the palm of his hand and be rewarded with a knee to the stomach that completely knocked the wind out of him. As he stumbled back against the wrought iron fence, the last of the three balked, letting out a shrill noise of fright as he turned to bolt. In spite of their injuries and shock, the other two followed, running as if their lives depended on it. The winged man scoffed.

"Pummelling weaklings like that wouldn't even be worth the effort," he spat. Out of the corner of his eye he seemed to notice Chita for the first time as she crouched to pick up the pieces of her torn scarf. "Why're you still here? A weakling like you should have run the moment they turned their backs."

"I—" Chita stammered, caught somewhere between insulted and terrified. She wanted to follow his advice and run, but her legs were shaking so hard that it was all she could do to avoid keeling over. The stranger glanced down at the sidewalk, taking in her torn scarf and scrutinizing her face. Her hand shot up almost reflexively to cover her scar.

"..hey," he said after a moment, dropping a heavy book in front of her with a dull _thump_. As she tugged her scarf out from underneath it, she took in the dark brown of the cover and its strange markings. "You wanna get back at those bastards, right?"

Her head shot up as her hand reached for the thick book, running almost subconsciously along the edge of its spine. She considered the question for a few moments, not noticing that she had picked up the book and was cradling it against her chest. The sight of her holding it seemed to amuse him, although the smirk that crossed his face was only brief. He turned to the car that was parked at the side of the road.

"You think this is theirs?" he asked. It was an expensive foreign car, one she knew that no one in her village drove. She nodded as he reached out to run a hand over its roof. The sight of the long claws sprouting from the tips of his fingers, as if she needed yet another reminder of the fact that the man who had saved her— at least momentarily— was something unidentifiably _inhuman_. "See if you can read that book."

Her hands shook as she placed her hand on the cover of the book. She didn't know why she was listening to his suggestions when she could have been running; perhaps it was a product of fear after seeing the winged man run off three thugs without any kind of effort. She looked at the car, which she was now certain belonged to one of them, and something base _surged_ in her chest. She _did_ want to get back at them. The book thrummed under her hand like a heartbeat. Without even thinking about it, she flipped open the cover of the book, her face contorted into a bestial snarl.

"_Ragyuuru_!"

The wings on the stranger's back expanded, changing from about a foot in length to each about the size of his body. A beam seemed to shoot from the membrane, an extension of the wing itself. The car crumpled under the pressure and was sent flying across the street, rolling on its roof to come to a stop against the lamp post across the street, bending it nearly in half but not snapping its concrete base entirely.

Chita knelt on the ground, feeling completely rooted by her fear. The screeching and crunching of metal rang in her ears, and it took her a moment to realize that the car's alarm was sounding— and the winged man was _laughing_.

With a scream, she dropped the heavy book as though it had burned her. Her legs still felt like cement, but even the heaviness that came with the lack of muscle strength wasn't enough to keep her from throwing herself to her feet and running in the opposite direction. She stumbled once, skinning her knees, but the adrenaline running through her had her on her feet and going again in mere seconds.

The winged man stopped laughing, regarding the dropped book with annoyance. "Tch. So it's going to be like that, huh.."

* * *

Chita's legs burned like they were on fire, felt as heavy as stone. Her knees ached and stung where she had skinned them, little pieces of concrete gravel sticking to the raw red patches. She hadn't thought about where she was running— all she had cared about was getting away from the man with the wings and the shark teeth and the crazed laugh. What kind of a monster did you have to be to send a car_ flying_ like that?

And— why had she felt her heart pound with excitement when she had read that book and watched the car get crushed?

She approached her house through the back alley, having avoided the main roads when she doubled back. She didn't want to run into the crazy winged man, or see the wreck. All she wanted to do was get home and forget the entire night had even happened. After all, she couldn't have _really_ seen a man with wings trash a car, right? It was possible that her body was just reacting to the stress of being cornered by those thugs— making up something to deal with the trauma. Her old therapist had told her about things like that happening, back when her parents had insisted on sending her to weekly therapy sessions.

She struggled with the key in the lock for a few moments, feeling it stick and grind the way it normally did. Where it normally would have just been another annoyance, today it frustrated her immensely, when all she wanted to do was get home and relax. She cursed loudly, kicking the door firmly. She burst into her house, fuming from something even as small as that, and nearly screamed when she stopped to actually pay attention to her surroundings. Sitting in the light coming from her open fridge was the winged man, food wrappers and containers scattered around him and halfway through eating a raw ham. She fumbled for the knob, desperate to slip out and escape his notice, but his head snapped in her direction, freezing her in place.

For a few moments they were both completely silent, Chita paralysed with fear as he scrutinized her. The winged man swallowed a mouthful of ham and licked the juices around his lips. "I was wondering when you'd show up," he said with an annoyed tone to his voice, like she had been late to an appointment or something. Turning back to his feast, he added, "It was a pain trying to figure out where you lived."

"Wh-who are you?! What are you doing in my house?! And— why are you eating all of my food?!" she demanded, her voice shrill. Her fear was pushed to the side by her anger, her pure fury at her home being violated. It was the last safe space available to her, when she couldn't go outside without being stared at and ridiculed.

He smacked his lips, turning the ham over. "I'm Rodeaux," he greeted, so casually that she half expected him to extend his hand to her for a handshake. "And I just flew across an ocean and beat up a couple of thugs to meet you. I needed to refuel after that."

His response dumbfounded her so much that she neglected to notice that he had ignored the second of her questions. She blinked twice in confusion, taking an automatic step forwards. "To meet.. me?" she repeated. He let out a scoffing snort as he tore the last chunk of meat from the bone.

"Yeah. You can read my book," he replied, gesturing at the table behind him. The brown book he had tossed to her previously sat there. As she stared at it, it seemed to start throbbing like a heart, forcing her to avert her eyes. "That makes us partners."

Chita bristled. "Who said I wanted to be your partner?" she demanded. Her hair was standing on end not only out of anger, but also fear as she remembered the car crumpling and being thrown across the street. Why was she even standing around and having a conversation with a person that dangerous?

"I didn't make the choice," he replied, biting into the ham bone. A shiver ran up her spine as she listened to his teeth grind the bone to bite sized chunks and then into paste as simply as if he were eating chips. "The book can only be read by a single human. So you're my partner."

"Partners for _what_? What _are_ you?" she demanded, feeling irritation bubble up inside of her. He turned to her and gave her a brilliant grin.

"A demon," he replied, voice brimming with sadistic glee. "One who's going to become a king."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Part two. I actually wrote this entire thing as one short story, but quickly realized its length was a little ridiculous for a single chapter, and so broke it up for easier reading.

* * *

Rodeaux glanced away from the television when he heard the door open and close again. Chita, arms laden with heavy bags of groceries, dropped them on the table with a small grunt.

"Should I even bother putting these away, or are you just going to eat all of it immediately?" she asked, calling through the open bedroom door that hung awkwardly on its hinges. "This is the third time I've had to go to the grocery store in as many days. At this rate you'll bankrupt me."

"If you let me come with you, we could just use the book and _take_ whatever we wanted," he replied in a snotty huff. Since learning about the book's abilities and weaknesses— namely the fact that Rodeaux couldn't use any of his spells without her— Chita had expressly forbidden him to leave the house. He was restless and agitated, which in combination with knowing that he needed her help, made Chita completely unafraid of him. He moped and grumbled like a child who had been grounded, making him absolutely unintimidating.

"If we did that, we'd get the police involved," she replied curtly. "And if we tried to use the book to deal with the police, it would keep going on and on until eventually it would be us against the army. You don't have enough power to take on _everyone_. I've explained this already. No, it's better if you just stay inside."

Rodeaux jumped out of her bed, using a quick pump of his wings to give himself an extra small boost. Although part of her was still unsettled by the things that put Rodeaux apart from humans, her curiosity was ever growing. She liked observing all of the little ways he used his wings in his day-to-day, with them being just as much a part of him as his arms or legs.

"I'm sick of sitting around all day doing nothing!" he barked, wings flapping angrily. "Why should I even listen to you? You're not doing a damn thing about the competition!"

With lighting-fast reflexes, Chita's hand darted into her coat pocket and pulled out a lighter. She held it close to the corner of the book she kept perpetually tucked under one arm.

"I'm doing the smart thing," she replied evenly, her voice cold. "People would know you're not human the moment they saw you. It would cause a panic."

"So what? Why do I care if a bunch of humans are scared of me? It's better than hiding from them like _I'm_ the one who's scared!" he replied, snarling. He narrowed his eyes. "Of course, I wouldn't expect someone like _you_ to understand that."

"What do you mean by that?" Chita asked, insulted even though she couldn't quite place why. Still, that same rage about the violation of her safe space was building up inside of her.

"Since I met you, you've hidden in here from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed," he said, looking around the dingy and poorly-lit room. "You only leave the house to get more food. You're like a rodent hiding from a predator, never leaving its damn hole in the ground. What're you so afraid of, anyway?"

Chita gritted her teeth, her grip on the book becoming white-knuckled. "I'm not _afraid_," she spat. "People are cruel, and vicious, and terrible. Why would I _want_ to go out and deal with them?" As she spoke, her hand moved to cover her wounded eye as if by reflex. She was shaking slightly.

Rodeaux stared her down with an unreadable expression, something she had noticed he did a lot. It made her feel uncomfortable, like he was trying to see _through_ her. "..so that's how it is, huh?" he said, sighing as though whatever answer he had found bored him. He disappeared into the bedroom momentarily, then returned holding an unidentifiable slab of metal. He slammed it into the table with a loud _clang_. "Put this on."

She reached for the object, turning it over in her hands. A metal mask with an intense green glass eye stared back at her. "What is this?" she asked, frowning at it.

"If your eye is your problem, this'll solve it," he explained, crossing his arms. "Don't you want to see what it would be like to have people be afraid of _you _for a change?"

That green glass eye stared at her as she traced the small metal studs that lined the mask's edge. "Where did you get this..?" she asked, running her thumb over the studs just to feel their texture.

"Doesn't matter," he replied gruffly. She ignored his rough demeanour as she wandered over to her vanity mirror. She stared at the ugly slash of a scar that fused her right eyelid together, pink and rough and stretched taut in some places. It made her feel sick just to look at it, and she screwed up her face into a contorted, animal snarl. She held up the contoured mask to her face, pressing the cold metal against the rough scar tissue. Reluctantly, she moved her hand away from the mask and was shocked that it stayed without any assistance. It seemed to fit her perfectly, held up by nothing but the fact that it matched the hills and valleys of her face with uncanny precision.

For a few moments she simply stared at herself. The awed look on the left side of her face didn't match the harsh expression of the mask, with its sharply curved "eye" that seemed to perpetually scowl, and she down turned her own expression to try and match it.

Staring at her reflection, her angry, _monstrous_ reflection, she felt— _vindicated_.

For those few moments of self-examination, she had completely forgotten about Rodeaux's presence. Only when he cleared his throat did she realize that he was not only still there, but standing almost directly behind her.

"That's a good look for you," he said, his torso reflected in the mirror alongside her face. "You'd make a good demon."

"..thank you.." she murmured, turning to him with a softer facial expression. "Because of how scary this mask looks, no one will ever come near me anymore.."

She thought about the people on the street who murmured false pity when they thought she wasn't listening, the children who would stop in the middle of their games to stare at her with a gape, her ex-boyfriend who had pledged to her that he would stay by her side when she had been in the hospital after the accident but had left once the bandages had come off. All people who defined her just with a single look at her wound, a defining feature she had never _wanted_. Her face slid effortlessly back into the harsh scowl, and for the first time in forever she felt like her face was completely _hers_ again.

"..Rodeaux," she said after a few more moments of contemplation. "Tomorrow, let's go and see what your abilities can do."

Rodeaux grinned in a self-satisfied way. "Whatever you say, _boss_," he said, his voice smug and thick with sarcasm but evidently happy. His grin only faltered when he saw Chita beeline to her sewing machine, holding the book firmly under her arm. He snorted, moving towards the bags of food that Chita had left on the table. "What did you get, anyway?" he asked.

"..ham," she replied. "With the bone still in it."

* * *

Chita walked slowly, dragging her feet and trying to resist the urge to hang her head. Her mask fit snug to her face, so exact that she occasionally had to reach up and press her fingers into the studs to remind herself that it was still there. Under one arm she carried the brown book, held tightly to her side. She had taken to carrying it with her everywhere, and it was never more than an arm's reach away. Rodeaux was temperamental and prone to outbursts, and she had discovered that the book was the easiest way to control him.

The demon himself walked alongside her, cutting a tall and intimidating figure next to her petite frame. He seemed to hum with a major energy, and he would pause every few minutes to dramatically take a deep breath.

"You're acting like I kept you locked up in a basement or something," she said, a twinge of annoyance working its way into her voice.

"I'm just glad to me out of that damn house," he replied, swinging his arms slightly as he walked. His wings expanded momentarily to their full size, just long enough for him to flex them before returning to their smaller size. "I just don't _get_ how you can live there day in and day out.. place is fucking depressing."

His voice dropped off to a murmur as he became distracted by something intangible, but that distraction disappeared as quickly as it came. A pair of local children, playing with a soccer ball in the sunset dusk, called out to one another as the ball rolled away from them and down the sidewalk. It bounced off of Chita's foot and stopped, directly in front of them. She paused and Rodeaux followed suit, seemingly intrigued by the children's game.

One of the two children, a little brown-haired boy with a dirt-smudged face, ran after the escaping ball with a laugh. When he caught sight of Chita and Rodeaux he paused, staring at the odd pair, the tall man with his lined face and the familiar neighbour girl with her new and frightening metal visage. His eyes darted back and forth, but he made no movement to come closer to claim the ball. His younger sister had trotted up behind him, but was standing several feet off, hands bunched nervously in her shirt.

Chita could sense Rodeaux's eyes on her, as if he was gauging what she was going to do next. That angered her, made her feel like an experiment. She narrowed her eye and pursed her lips in a terse frown. The little boy inhaled sharply, his lower lip quivering.

Rodeaux put one foot on the soccer ball and pressed down, destroying it with a loud _BANG_. Both children cried out in fright and turned to run, stumbling over themselves, their game and broken toy forgotten entirely. He turned to her with a shark-like grin. "You look pretty alive right now."

Chita snapped her head in his direction, and only then did she realize that she had been holding in a breath. Her face was flushed and she felt as though she had just come down from an adrenaline rush. Before she could say anything in response, Rodeaux kicked the remnants of the soccer ball aside and continued on, not even glancing back at her. She followed, annoyed by the fact that she had lost control of the situation and taking control of it again by walking ahead of him.

"How does this book work, exactly?" she asked, taking it out from under her arm and holding it against her chest. Rodeaux had been quick to tell her about the terms of the battle and her so-called 'duty' as his partner, but there were many things she was still curious about. Her 'partner', however, seemed bored just by the question.

"No idea," he replied honestly, running his fingertips along the ridges of a picket fence as they walked. After seeing the sort of damage his abilities could do the first night they had met, Chita had realized that practising anywhere other than well beyond the inhabited area of the village would be dangerous, and so after dinner they had departed for the fields outside of town. "They just handed it to us when we left and told us to go find our partners. All I know is that the more emotion you put into the spells, the stronger they are."

As they walked, Chita digested the information, thinking back to the night when she had first met Rodeaux. She remembered the humiliation and anger she had felt towards the three thugs, how badly she had wanted to get back at them for what they had done and what they had intended to do. She also remembered the way the book had throbbed in her hands, and how it had done the same when she had been angry at Rodeaux for violating her personal space. Something about the knowledge both scared and excited her. She quite literally had an intangible power at her fingertips, even if that power wasn't strictly hers.

She was so focused on the book that she didn't notice Rodeaux had stopped until the demon stuck out an arm that she nearly ran into. His face was contorted with disgust and she followed his line of sight to a trio of men standing under a lamp post a few yards ahead. It took her a few moments to realize they were the same men that had cornered her on the street the other day, and they were coming their way.

"I knew if we stuck around long enough we'd find you," the man who she had first encountered said. His perpetual grin had disappeared, replaced with a furious snarl. His two friends looked similarly displeased, but whereas Chita's first reaction was to hold the book closer and take a step back, Rodeaux simply cracked his neck and rotated his shoulders.

"Are you that desperate to get your ass kicked again?" he asked with a sigh. "I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"Like Hell we're going to let you," the thug snarled, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a switchblade, flicking the knife out. Rodeaux seemed unfazed, but Chita felt her muscles tense up. There was a lingering fear from their first encounter, the memory of being cornered and helpless, but there was something more— the blind anger that came with humiliation and degradation, and the strange elation she had felt at seeing their car reduced to scrap. "You're the one who trashed our car, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" Rodeaux asked, stepping forwards. Chita's hand shot out to grab his arm and he looked down at her, brow raised in expectation. She let out an unsteady breath, her hand shaking somewhat as she slid a finger between the pages of the book and held it open with one hand. Rodeaux's confused and mildly interested expression slipped into a wide grin as he turned back towards the thugs, taking a step forwards. He stopped with his legs shoulder-width apart and his wings almost fluttering in anticipation.

Chita felt that anger and hatred boiling up inside of her. The sound of tearing fabric, the crunch of metal, the shuffling footsteps and stuttering gasps of the three of them running away blindly— all of those noises echoed in her head, pounding through her ears like a heartbeat. The book glowed under her hand, casting deep shadows across her face. The momentary hesitation of the three men upon seeing her just strengthened the burning feeling in her chest.

"_Ragyuuru!_"

Rodeaux's wings shot out to their full length, their beams shooting in the direction of the three thugs. Something about them seemed— _different_ compared to the last time. More solid. _Stronger_.

Rodeaux was laughing. There wasn't even enough time for them to scream before they were struck, sending the first thug flying.

Chita's blood froze in her veins, her hands shaking. The man was lying prone on the ground, his friends having stumbled back out of fear. All her brain could process was the red, red, red..

"Sh-shit," one of the shaking men stuttered, turning over and reaching for the injured thug. "Is he..?"

"C-call the cops, man," the other stammered, trying to push himself to his feet. They seemed to be unharmed— the knife-wielder had been the only one to take the hit.

"Is that seriously it? Humans are so fragile," Rodeaux murmured. He turned to Chita, about to say something but stopping when he saw her face. "Hey, what's your problem?"

"I— I—"

She practically felt her throat closing. Her entire body felt as heavy as lead. Her vision was swimming. Had Rodeaux asked her a question? She couldn't tell anymore.

"Chita!" he said, stalking up to her and grabbing her by the shoulders. The sudden touch startled her, making her cry out and pull away. Without even thinking about it, she clutched the book to her chest and ran, as fast as her legs could.

The demon rolled his eyes. "Dammit. We'd better not be making a habit of this."

* * *

Rodeaux first realized something wasn't quite right when he arrived back at Chita's house and found that the lights were off. It was well past sunset and he had walked back rather than flown so she would arrive before him. For a moment he assumed that he had still managed to beat her back until he heard the soft crying coming from inside.

"Chita?" he said as he stepped inside. The door creaked loudly as if to announce his arrival, but Chita didn't even look up. She remained hunched over on her stool in the back corner of her room. He narrowed his eyes at the sight. "What the Hell was with that?"

"Leave me _alone_," she murmured into her arms. "I— I might have _killed_ someone tonight."

"Hmph. Is that all?" he asked, clearly unimpressed. Her head snapped up and she _glared_ at him, her eyes wild with fury.

"What do you _mean_, 'is that all'?!" she demanded. "How can you just— _say _something like that?!"

"He came at us with a _knife_," he said plainly. "He would've killed you if he'd had the chance. Besides— didn't you _want_ to hurt him?"

Chita stared at him blankly, as though she couldn't understand what he was saying. The anger seemed to be replaced by something more desperate and grasping. "I didn't— _no_. Why would you even _think_ I wanted to.."

"The book responds to your emotions. If you hadn't hated him, hadn't wanted him to _suffer_, it wouldn't have let you," he explained, staring at her like what he was explaining was completely obvious. "Tch. Why do all you humans have to be so weak-willed? If someone wants to fight, you fight back. You're going to have to figure that out if we're going to be partners."

"I never asked to be your partner!" she snapped, her features returning to the feral anger. "All I ever wanted was for people to leave me alone! But ever since _you_ showed up, I've wanted to do— all kinds of _terrible_ things. I'd be better off if you and your stupid book had never found me!"

"And what if I _hadn't_ shown up? What do you think would've happened to you?!" he demanded gruffly. "I saved you. Probably saved your life. Would you be happier if I _hadn't_?"

"Maybe I would be!"

A pregnant silence hung in the air between them as they stared each other down. Chita was the first to avert her eyes, dropping her head and clutching the book to her chest.

"Get out of here, Rodeaux," she muttered. He stepped forwards and extended his hand.

"At least give me back my book," he said. Her head snapped back up and she glared at him once more.

"No," she said firmly. "If I give this back, there won't be any reason for you to listen to me. Now get out of here and don't come back or I'll— I'll burn it!"

Her hand darted into her pocket, reaching for her lighter, but the message came across clearly enough. Rodeaux snarled and turned his back to her, opening the door with an ominous creak.

"Fine. Just go back to sitting in your corner. See if I care," he muttered before stepping outside and slamming the door behind him. "Bitch.." He would have to find a way to get the book away from her, but for now he was going to find something to eat and some place to hunker down for the night.

Once he was gone, Chita buried her head in her arms and tried desperately to forget the red.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Part three, the final part. This ended up much longer than the other two because of the scene at the end, but the flow didn't work properly if I tried to break it into two smaller parts.

* * *

"Did you hear about Kana's grandson?"

"The boy whose visiting with his friends from school? What about him?"

"Apparently he was hurt badly in some sort of accident.. he's in the hospital now. His friends brought him in last night."

"Oh my! What happened?"

"No one knows— his friends are two frightened to talk about it. It must have been dreadful."

"You don't think someone might have attacked him?"

"No, no. He was hurt far too badly. The police think it might have been a hit-and-run, though. You should be careful if you have to walk home after dark."

Chita ground her teeth as she passed by the two old women, arms laden with groceries to replace everything Rodeaux had eaten before she had kicked him out. They paused in their chatter to murmur something as she passed by, no doubt something about her. She turned her head in their direction and gave them a piercing glare, an expression punctuated by the mask. She had debated getting rid of it, but she liked the fact that people were more afraid of her than she was of them now. Rodeaux hadn't been wrong about _everything_. The women immediately stopped talking, one of them grabbing the other's arm. She could practically see the accusations in their eyes— _did she do it?— _but they were clearly too frightened to say anything.

She walked faster. She didn't want to listen to anything else they had to say. All she wanted to do was get home and forget that the past few days had ever happened. The book, which she had taken to carrying around in a leather bag at all times, served as a constant reminder. At the same time, she couldn't get rid of it— Rodeaux had kept away from her for the past few days just as she'd told him to, something she was sure wouldn't be the case if she wasn't holding his book hostage. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep him away like that forever, but it would give her enough time to come up with a plan to discard it and run somewhere he wouldn't be able to find her. She had no roots keeping her in the village other than a lease and cheap rent. She had briefly considered just burning the book and wiping her hands clean of the whole thing, but something intangible had held her back. Her hands seemed to shake whenever she brought the lighter close to its pages, even when the flame wasn't lit.

The door creaked as she pushed her way inside, briefly glancing over her shoulder. Every so often she could swear she caught a brief sight of wispy black hair, or a strange dark shape circling in the sky above, but she had never seen more than that. There were times when she was convinced it was just her mind playing tricks on her, and times when she felt paranoid enough to hold the book close to her and pull the lighter out of her pocket. She was sure she looked crazy, but people had called her worse.

Once she was convinced that Rodeaux wasn't about to swoop down out of the sky, she retreated into her house with her groceries, locking and barring the door behind her. She wasn't about to take any chances.

* * *

"Excuse me, ma'am, would you mind if I asked you a few quick questions?"

The two old women, who stood outside of the store and gossiped on their smoke breaks, were startled by the tall man's sudden appearance. Ever since the girl who lived in the old rental home had passed by and glared at them, they had been rather jumpy. Something about that mask she had taken to wearing made her deeply unsettling.

"Oh— of course not. What do you need?" one of them asked, smoothing out her store apron. The man, who was tall and fair-skinned and had pleasantly soft features but was otherwise rather unremarkable in appearance, smiled at them.

"I was wondering if you could tell me if anything strange has happened in this town lately?" he asked. "My son and I—" He lifted his arm to place his hand on the head of a small child standing next to him, clinging to his coat, that the women noticed for the first time. "We've been going across the country investigating strange reports of inexplicable violent or destructive acts. Has anything like that happened here?"

The women exchanged a glance, puzzled by the odd question, but quickly turned back to him. They were never ones to miss out on a chance to gossip. "Well, a young man who came to visit our town recently was involved in some kind of accident. The police said it was some kind of hit-and-run, but his friends who saw it happen won't tell them what happened. Poor boy.. and in a quiet little village like ours, too.."

The man hummed at that knowledge, stroking his small goatee. "Hm, yes. Poor boy indeed. Violent accidents like that are so terrible.."

The young child tugged at his father's coat, prompting the man to look down at his small companion. "I think we've found one of 'them'," he said in a small voice. He gave the young boy's head a small pat.

"You think so, Phytos?" he said. The child nodded, clinging harder to the man's coat. He smiled gently, turning back to the old women. "Ah, then I suppose we must have. Thank you for your help, ladies. Have a wonderful day."

He dipped his head to them as he walked forwards, keeping his hand on the child's head as they walked. They stared after him in confusion but shrugged, going back to puffing on their cigarettes. Something about the man and the boy at his side made them almost completely forget about them as soon as they were out of sight. 'He just has that sort of face,' they would later say. Unremarkable.

* * *

The knock at Chita's door was so unexpected that she nearly ruined the dress she was hemming at her sewing machine. She paused momentarily to let her heart restart before walking cautiously to the door, wishing it had a window or one of those peep holes that hotels had. She turned to main lock but kept the chain on the door, opening it just far enough for her to peer out of the crack.

"Yes..?" she said cautiously, eyeing the stranger on her doorstep. She never had visitors, and the village was too small to have door-to-door salesmen. Her first thought had been that it might have been Rodeaux, but even before she had opened the door she had considered that idea crazy. He wasn't the type to simply knock politely.

"Good evening, ma'am," the man said, giving her a soft smile. "I was hoping we could talk to you about the man that was injured in this town a few days ago."

Chita's blood ran cold at the mention of the incident, and her cautious look turned into a freezing glare. Her knuckles tightened on the edge of the door. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Please leave."

Just as she was closing the door in his face, he slipped something thick between the door frame and the door. She burned with anger until she processed the strange markings on the book's sea foam cover, at which point her muscles seized up entirely.

"Ah. You recognize this, don't you?" he said softly, one green eye peering at her through the crack in the door. "Now, why don't you let us in so we can have a chat? I would hate to have to use force."

Slowly, her hand shaking, Chita undid the chain and opened the door fully. She was careful to face them at all times.

The man stepped inside, accompanied by a small, dead-eyed boy with hair the colour of spring leaves. The child spared her only a momentary glance before moving away from his partner to wander around the room, while the man kept his attention firmly on her.

"You'll have to excuse the behaviour of my friend and myself," he said politely, tucking the sea foam spell book under his arm. "Competitions like this one just encourage the barbarous natures of both man and demon. I assure you that once we've settled this, we'll leave without bothering you further."

Chita pressed her back against the wall as the boy moved through the room, opening her bathroom door and then her bedroom. "Her partner isn't here, Ken."

"Oh?" the man said, looking over his shoulder at the small boy then back to Chita. "Is it really wise to leave a human partner alone to guard the spell book?"

"I made my demon leave," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't want anything to do with this damn competition."

"Is that so?" He observed her with a knowing honey-sweet smile that made her skin crawl. "Not everyone has a stomach for violence, I suppose. Although I'm impressed by your capability to turn your new partner's powers on a fellow human like that. It shows an admirable amount of viciousness."

Chita glared at him, her fists clenching at her side. "I didn't _want_ to hurt him— not like that. I just wanted to protect myself," she replied.

"Of course, of course," the man said, nodding. "These books— they respond to our basest animal desires, not our conscious thoughts. But don't feel too bad. Very few people can ever master those instincts. If you like, we can take that book off of your hands, and you won't have to deal with this competition any longer."

The child demon stepped up next to his partner, letting the man rest a hand on the top of his head. "Those with weak-willed partners won't survive this competition very long, anyway. We would be doing your demon a favour as well."

Chita's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the pair like a deer caught in the headlights. Burn Rodeaux's book? That _would_ solve her problems— but the thought of it made her feel cold, and she could swear she could hear her blood pounding through her body as though her heart was racing.

"Ah. Still having doubts?" the man said, licking his fingers before flipping open the pages of his spell book. "I suppose it must be a difficult decision. Giving up would be like admitting weakness. But if I leave you the choice of either giving up your book or getting hurt, that makes the decision easy, right?" He smiled brightly as he spoke, and Chita willed herself not to shake in spite of the chill that ran up her spine. "Now, why don't you just tell us where your spell book is, and we can be on our way?"

There were a few seconds of heavy silence between them before the man's smile dropped into a quizzical expression. He observed the minute trembling of her hands, the size of her pupils, the cold sweat along her brow. "Hm. I think we might have scared her out of talking. Phytos, why don't you search for the book while I keep the young lady company?"

The child nodded and parted from his human's side, moving back to the bedroom to search for her book. The man remained where he stood, still holding the book open with his thumb.

"And don't think about trying to run," he said warningly, his voice still as honey-sweet as it had been the entire time. "Phytos is the type who can control his spells even at a distance. But don't worry. Like I said, once we've settled this competition business, we'll be on our way."

_And why would I just trust your word on that?_ Chita thought, but the idea was relegated to the back of her brain. The rest was occupied in trying to figure out how she could get away— and, subconsciously, how she could get the _book_ away.

* * *

Rodeaux cracked his neck as he landed, picking bits of fish bones out of his teeth. The lakes and rivers near the village weren't exactly brimming with fish stock, and he'd had to fly a long way to find his dinner. As if that hadn't already been enough to piss him off, he'd been run off by a farmer when he'd tried to pilfer some of his livestock. He'd wanted to just shut the old man up, but for some reason he'd been weighed down by Chita's comments about keeping a low profile and avoiding the attention of the police. She may have pissed him off, but he wasn't going to deny that she was smart and knew more about her world than he did. So he'd had to fish for his dinner, getting his wings and hair wet in the process.

"Damn that bitch for throwing me out on my ass," he grumbled to himself as he walked down the back roads that winded through the village's shops and homes that were too crowded to have any real yard. "All over some thug who just ended up in the hospital.. Should give her a piece of my mind.."

He tried to recall the way he had gone during his first night in the village, after he'd beaten the thugs and Chita had run off. He'd managed to find her house before she got back to it, mostly because he'd seen her leaving it earlier in the day. He hadn't planned on following a girl like her, but something had told him that keeping his eye on her would lead him to his book owner. So he'd followed her, saved her— and for what? To get kicked out because she couldn't handle the weight of her own decisions? It really pissed him off. During his several days of exile he had tried to devise a plan to sneak in and steal the book, but planning wasn't his strong point. If he got too close, Chita would burn his book, and that was the end of it. So he'd done nothing but stew in his own irritation for days, and finally had come to the decision that he was going to confront her. What was the point of even being in the competition if his partner wasn't going to use the book? It would be better to get sent back a failure than have to stick around half-starving and trying to think of some way to outsmart her. At least this way he'd have a chance to vent his anger.

The light from the back window of Chita's sorry excuse for a house leaked into the dirt alley that ran behind it. He sneered as he stepped up to the window, expecting to look inside to see Chita curled up into a ball at her sewing machine as per usual. Even when the whole town was afraid of her, the girl couldn't grow a damn spine. Just another thing on the long list of things about her that really pissed him off. He carefully peered inside, not wanting her to see him, and his entire body seized up in shock.

"This would go a lot faster if you just told us where it was, you know.." sighed an unfamiliar looking man holding an open spell book and flipping leisurely through the pages. "Then you could wash your hands clean of this whole mess and we'd be able to get on our way."

_Dammit! I didn't even think about enemies showing up_, he cursed inwardly, staring at the scene in fixated horror. He was rather talented when it came to sensing a demon's strength, but sensing their _presence_ was something he had never been good at. _They'll burn my book for sure, and I won't even have a chance to yell at her.._

"Still not talking? What a shame. You're really wasting a lot of our time, you know, and I'm sure this must be hard on you as well," the human partner sighed again. Whereas he'd been kneeling in front of Chita before, now he stood up to his full height and clapped his spell book shut. "Oh well. Phytos will find it sooner or later.

Rodeaux screwed his face up in confusion. _She won't tell them where it is..? Can't she tell they're dangerous?_

"It's not in here, either," the demon child announced as he stepped out of the bedroom. He looked unimpressive and unremarkable, one of a thousand like him back in the demon world, but Rodeaux knew better than to judge strength based on appearance. The prince, for example, looked like a deformed bobblehead, but he was able to fry anyone who so much as thought something like that in his presence.

"She must have hid it somewhere in this room," the partner said, looking around the sparsely decorated space. "What a pain. Do you think she knew we were coming?"

"If she's telling the truth about her partner? I doubt it," the child replied as he opened her trunk of sewing supplies and started digging through it. "And even if she wasn't, I've heard about this guy. He wouldn't be any help to her."

"You know the partner?" the human asked.

"Based on what we've heard about what he's been doing, yeah," the kid replied as fabric was strewn around behind him. "He's one of the oldest demons in the competition. He's an adult, but he's still in school because he's such an idiot. He has some strong spells but not much common sense."

"Doesn't seem like they've been very close partners, either," the man continued, crossing his arms. He was looking over his shoulder at his demon partner, but his body was still turned to face Chita as she sat weakly against the wall. From her splayed pose, he assumed that her legs had given out under her. "I bet they don't even know any good spells yet. We already have a few.." He cracked open his book and flipped idly through its pages again, licking his fingers before turning each of them. He smiled pleasantly. "Maybe we should try a few on her, just to make up for wasting our time."

"That would be a waste of our energy," the child replied. "We're better off just looking for the book. She probably just stashed it somewhere because she's paranoid."

"Ah, if you say so.."

Rodeaux seethed quietly on the other side of the window, grinding his teeth and squeezing his hands into fists so hard his knuckles had gone white. _If I actually had a partner who would work with me, I would rip your damn mouths out, _he thought, shaking with anger as he watched the demon tear apart the table sitting next to Chita's front door in his search. _Goddammit. Why is she just sitting there?! This isn't the time to curl up into a ball like a scared animal, you stupid bitch!_

"Hey, check over there. We'll save some time if both of us are looking," the demon directed, pointing to the opposite side of the room. The human turned his head in his direction.

"Eh? You think it's okay to leave her?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"She's not going anywhere. Look at her; she's practically paralysed," he replied. "And even if she does get away, she'd just be leaving the book behind."

"I guess you have a point.." the human said, turning his back on Chita and wandering over to the small kitchenette to dig through the cupboards. Rodeaux's stomach clenched, realizing they were running out of possible places to look and that sooner or later they would find his book.

Chita's eyes suddenly became sharp, startling him momentarily. She shifted her shaking body to reach for something behind her, something she must have hidden when she had backed against the wall. Her legs stopped shaking just as suddenly, becoming as taut as steel; he swore he could see the muscles coiling in them even from his less than advantageous vantage point. Without warning she sprang for the door, holding the thing she'd been hiding close to her chest, which he now realized was her leather bag. His eyes widened in sudden realization.

_My book..! That's why they couldn't find it! But why..?_

"Where do you think you're going, miss?" the human said, spinning on his heel and whipping open the spell book at the same time with practised ease. "_Juron!_"

Coils of roots smashed up through the floorboards of the house and grabbed Chita by the ankles. She shrieked as she fell forwards, but refused to let the bag go in order to use her arms to stop the fall. She fell directly on top of it and hit her head sharply.

"That's a waste of energy. Why didn't you just let her get away?" the demon asked while Rodeaux tried to will his heart into beating at a more reasonable rate.

"Look at what she's holding. How much do you wanna bet that's why we couldn't find the book?" his partner replied. His pleasant smile had dropped completely off his face, replaced with a cold, harsh stare. "That's a lot of effort for someone who isn't even interested in the battle to go through. Why don't you just give me that book?"

Chita turned her head towards him and snarled. "You force yourself into my house.. start tearing it apart.. _threaten_ me.. and you want me to give you Rodeaux's book just like that? Go to Hell," she spat, holding the leather bag as close to her chest as she could. Her face contorted into a pained grimace as the roots around her ankles tightened, coming dangerously close to shattering bone.

"And here I thought this one was going to be easy. Oh well.." the man muttered, flipping to a different page of the book.

_Dammit! Just give them the book already, you stupid girl! _Rodeaux mentally screamed at her. _You don't even want to be my partner, right?! Why are you letting this piece of filth attack you just to protect my book?!_

"I've been meaning to try some of these out," the man continued, oblivious to Rodeaux's growing panic and fury. "I'd rather test them out on a demon, but a human subject should at least give me an idea of what they're supposed to do. Let's see.."

Rodeaux practically felt something inside him snap when he saw the raw fear mixed with stubborn fury in Chita's eyes, combined with the man's intake of breath to cast his next spell. Before he could think about what he was doing, he spun in the direction of the window and put his fist through it, followed quickly by the rest of his body, using his wings to shield himself from the shards of broken glass. His intrusion was enough to interrupt the man's spell before it could even reach his lips, and the fist he jammed sharply into his jaw helped ensure he didn't quickly regain his composure. The demon stared at him, utterly dumbstruck and not seeming to care that he had just decked his partner in the face.

"Rodeaux..!" Chita gasped, lifting the front half of her body as best she could. Momentarily relief flooded him and made his expression soft before his sharp glare returned.

"What the Hell was that?!" he demanded as he stalked over to her, reaching for the roots that were tangled around her legs. He pulled them from the ground, shattering them like brittle twigs. "Why didn't you just give them the book?!"

"H-hey!" she stammered as she pulled herself into a sitting position. The bones in her legs weren't broken, but he couldn't imagine having them _nearly_ crushed felt a lot better. "You should be grateful! If it weren't for me, your book would have been burned already!"

"They were just about to kill you!" he shouted. "I didn't save you from those thugs just for you to get yourself killed trying to protect _me_! Losing a competition isn't worth losing your _life_!"

He raised his voice with every consecutive statement until he was sure the entire village could hear him, but he didn't really care. The fury in him was boiling over, making him see red in the corner of his vision. He expected Chita to shout back, and so was surprised to see her expression soften into some kind of perplexed reverence.

"Rodeaux.." she murmured, clearly searching for something more to say, but her expression became panicked and deadly sharp before the words came. "Look out! Behind you!" she yelled instead.

"_Juron!_"

Without even thinking about it, Rodeaux turned around to face his attacker as a huge, thick vine burst out of the floor and shot in his direction. Panic rose in him as he realized he would have to deal with the attack using nothing but his body. He threw his arms out in front of him, and—

"_Ragyuuru_!"

His wings shot to their fill extension, his attack firing in concentration at the vine headed straight for him. His attack shredded the plant into harmless fibres on contact and kept going. The plant-wielding demon and his partner only barely managed to avoid the attack by throwing themselves in opposite directions, causing it to blast away a chunk of Chita's far wall.

He looked over his shoulder at his human partner. "Chita, you.."

"Don't look at me, face the enemy!" she barked, holding the open book in front of her as she stood up on shaky legs. The leather bag had been thrown off to the side. He did as he was told without question, whipping his head back in the direction of the other demon.

"Sh-shit.. I didn't think the demon would come back," the human muttered, his voice somewhat slurred by the punch to the jaw that Rodeaux had given him earlier. He spit blood and a tooth onto the floor while his partner stood up and thrust his hands out in preparation for another attack. Rodeaux didn't bother waiting for Chita to cast another spell; using the speed advantage his wings gave him, he threw himself at the demon child and kicked him in the face, sending him flying across the room. The human partners both stared in mild disbelief.

"That's for calling me an idiot, you little bastard!" he growled, lunging at him again. The boy's human partner whirled, book glowing fiercely.

"Ju-_Juron_!"

The vine erupted from the ground so quickly that even with his advanced speed, Rodeaux didn't have time to get away. It lashed out at him and sent him flying across the room, colliding with the far wall before the partner's heart power faltered and the vine withered into nothing.

"Don't bother focusing on the demon, his partner is the one with the book!" the human snapped. The young demon turned in Chita's direction, hands thrust out in front of him.

_Sh-shit! _"Chita! Get out of the way!" he shouted, already throwing himself in her direction, using the force of his wings to speed him.

"_Jugaro_!"

A trio of flowers sprouted from the floor, all aimed at Chita. He threw himself in front of her, crossing his arms in front of him to better protect himself as well. As the flowers reared back and prepared to fire, he braced himself for impact.

Behind him, his book glowed fiercely.

"_Ragyuushirudo!_"

His wings folded in front of him automatically, and he felt as if they were heavier, somehow more solid. At the same moment, the enemy's spell fired, shooting explosive seeds at them. They collided with his folded wings, exploding with a deafening _BANG_.

"D-did we get his partner?" the human asked.

"I-I think the demon got in the way," his partner replied. "We must have at least hurt him, though.. Ah! No way.."

The smoke cleared to reveal Rodeaux standing there, completely unharmed and grinning wildly.

"D-did they shield against it?!" the human asked, just as shocked as his partner.

Rodeaux's grin dropped silently off of his face. "Weak bastards like you, who go after humans who can't even properly defend themselves, really piss me off.." he murmured, cracking his knuckles as he stepped forwards. "Guys like you don't even deserve to be in the competition in the first place.."

"Sh-shit, he's serious.." the partner stammered, desperately searching for a spell in his book.

"How can someone even fight with a partner that slow?" Chita asked, pressing her hand into the pages of Rodeaux's book. "Let's end this and get these bastards out of my house," she said firmly. Rodeaux grinned again, crossing his arms in front of him.

"_Ragyuuru!_"

The attack was bigger this time and less concentrated, bursting forth from Rodeaux's wings. The human and demon pair didn't even have time to scream before they were both blown back by the attack. When the smoke cleared, the human was lying in a groaning heap on the floor, the book lying several feet away, blazing with flame. The demon was full unconscious, having taken most of the attack, and was starting to fade away entirely. When the human partner regained enough of his senses to realize what was happening, Rodeaux and Chita both gave him a fierce glare, sending him running screaming out of the house.

When the door slammed shut behind him, Chita sighed and slumped to the floor. "Is this what the battle to make you king is going to be like _all_ the time?" she asked, holding the book close to her chest as if for comfort.

"Well, it _is_ a battle— what?" Rodeaux did a double take, blinking twice at the girl sitting on the floor. "I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with the battle."

"Yeah, well.. you _did_ save my life a few times now. I think I owe you for that," she said. "Besides, you and I make a good team. It would be a shame to let that go to waste. You're strong and I'm smart. We can help each other."

She smiled at him, and he immediately averted his eyes, putting his hands on his hips. "You humans are all so fragile. I don't understand why we have to be teamed up with people like you," he said, crossing his arms. "But.. if you're going to help me fight, then I have no choice but to protect you. At least until you're strong enough to figure it out for yourself. So.. we're real partners now."

He turned back in her direction to see her staring blankly at him, which rapidly faded into another smile. She went to push herself up off of the floor and he extended a hand to help her up, which she graciously accepted.

"But if you ever kick me out like that again, I'm not protecting you no matter _how_ many demons use you for target practice," he said, glaring in a manner that was meant to be intimidating but really came off as indignantly childish. "All the fish around here taste _disgusting_."

"Well, then, we'd better get to work," Chita said, dusting herself off. "If you want to stay in the house, we need a functional house to stay _in_, so we'd better get that window and these walls patched up."

Rodeaux groaned, hanging his head, then snapped it back up and pushed up his sleeves. "Alright, if it means not having to spend one more damn night in those stupid fields, let's get to work. I'd better get something to eat after this, though."

Chita set the book on the kitchen counter and rolled up her own sleeves.

* * *

A/N: I made up the second spell used in this fic based on general spell nomenclature. Rodeaux spends so much of his time in the manga being a living shield that it was hard to imagine him not having _some_ kind of a shielding spell. Of course that raises the question of why he didn't use it in the manga, but Chita seems to be all about rationing spells and letting Rodeaux take hits to build up power. I also imagine that the stronger they get and the stronger enemies they face, the less useful a basic shield spell like that would be. By the time they're fighting enemies like Rein and Zatch, some exoskeletal wings are probably pretty worthless..


End file.
